Data indicates that in the early 1980's approximately 1,203,300 people used wheelchairs, 1,016,500 were bedfast, and 1,418,00 were either incontinent or required assistance using a commode. These populations appear to be doubling every nine years. Approximately 65.5% of those requiring toilet assistance are cared for at home and others are often forced into nursing homes because of inability to meet basic toilet needs. Though the wheelchair has become an international symbol of the disabled, it can be seen that toilet care may represent problems of equal magnitude.
For infirm or disabled persons, the present invention seeks to solve problems associated with having to transfer from a chair or bed device to a separate device such as a commode chair or a bathroom commode. Prior art has attempted to deal with such difficulties either by backing a wheelchair over a receptacle such as a bathroom commode or by providing devices within an article of furniture to accommodate commodes and devices to assist the occupant in either defecating or urinating. Though the history of various apparatus in the field is long, prior art has yet to attain widespread commercial success or meet the needs of the infirm, particularly those requiring home care.
Some representative U.S. Patents in the field are listed as follows: U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,840 Van Allen; 29,038 Keene; 847,758 Frye; 861,092 Cling; 915,346 Brubaker; 1,227,022 Thompson; 1,884,577 Comper; 1,186,059 Yarrington; 2,086,500 Hartig; 2,483,612 Beem; 2,656,549 Osbon; 2,676,643 Miller et al.; 3,215,419 Wamsley; 3,943,583 Ishikawa; 4,067,409 DiMatteo et al; 4,244,764 Ginsburg; 4,472,848 Newman; and 4,514,867 Jensen.
U.S. Pat. No. 557,614 Schmitt discloses a commode and seat insert rotatable about a single axis in which vertical positioning of the bed pan (o) is determined by gravity and in which seat insert (c) when opening moves in a forwardly arc in the bed embodiment and in a rearwardly arc in the chair embodiment. The arc like path of both the bed pan and the seat insert compromises support surfaces adjacent to the commode hole rendering inferior occupant support in proximity to the opening. It also is evident that the occupant would have to change position so that body parts would clear the commode and insert devices when they are in motion. Access to the commode receptacle subsequent to use is partially obstructed in the chair embodiment by front chair legs and the legrest. In the bed embodiment the used commode is inconveniently located at the center of the bed, making the emptying of the same inconvenient. Schmitt's ring (n) which supports and surrounds the bed pan encumbers removal of the bed pan.
Prior art has not shown a device: 1) that employs an independently rotating seat insert, 2) that can operate in as confined a space as the present invention, 3) that provides occupant comfort equal to the present invention, 4) that allows the occupant to use the device without moving significantly, 5) that provides an easy means of emptying and reinserting a commode receptacle, 6) that provides for temporary storage of waste by reinserting the commode lid, 7) that provides means for keeping commode receptacle upright during rotation, and 8) that has a sufficiently low profile that it can be incorporated into folding articles of furniture. These features are, in part, objects and advantages of the present invention. Use of seat inserts has also been shown to be useful in devices known as kinetic beds for access to body parts. Raising or lowering one section of the seat with respect to another for medical purposes and for changing occupant positioning also represents a use of seat insert. Modifications of the present invention may also be employed to accomplish these purposes.